Magic Life in the Empire

They managed to reach the slums while the sun was still high in the sky.

It wasn't hard finding the right building; it was the most well-preserved and biggest one around.

He came over to the door of house 10 and knocked on it.

Soon it was opened, and a dry, unfriendly voice asked, "What do you want?"

"Flick send me." Cyril kept his words brief.

With a grumble the door was opened and an old man invited him in

"You picked a good time; the boss is here." Once Cyril was inside, he closed the door behind him and sat on a chair nearby. "Just go straight ahead; you won't miss him."

Taking one last look at the dosing off old man, he went as instructed "Not the most professional sentry"

Passing through the dark hallway, he reached a living room.

Before a fireplace was a long table, surrounded by couches; they looked to be good quality.

Sitting there was a group of thugs currently playing cards.

The man at the head of the table was wearing an eye patch; upon noticing Cyril, his scowl was replaced by a beaming smile.

"We have a guest! Please, take a seat." He dropped the cards on the table and pointed at the unoccupied couch. "Call me Alan. What can I help you with?"

Cyril didn't decline and sat down, Rhamn did as well "I payed one of your men to investigate Alvin from the Happy Patient clinic and now I am here to hear the results"

"Ah! yes, I've been told about that" his tone was consistently friendly "I've also heard my boys inconvenienced you a bit, I apologise for that"

He pulled a book from under the table; it was a handwritten diary.

Alan took his time browsing through it with, after which he coughed two times and started speaking.

"Alvin is an alright guy, always healed you without asking any unnecessary questions, so I am not sure how I feel relaying his information to some shady kid." His demeanor suddenly changed, and he became slightly more hostile.

The thugs pulled out knives and placed them on the table as a silent threat.

"I understand; don't worry, the pay will satisfy you." Cyril remained calm as usual.

The leader stared at his face for a few more seconds before making a struggling expression.

"I would need plenty of moral compensation for an act so heinous; I would say 4 gold coins will cover it." 4 gold coins was not a small amount of money by any means, but Cyril didn't care about that and gave a nod.

"Hopefully, your information will be worth it."

Now an even bigger smile than at the beginning appeared on Alan's face. "Of course, friend! So Alvin here is an impressive character; he was born into an ordinary family in the southern district. His father repaired shoes, while his mother was a laundress" He started reading from his notebook.

"From a young age his mind was bright, and many considered him to be a genius. Wanting their son to succeed in life, his parents saved up enough money and sent him to a good school." Cyril did ask for information, but he didn't expect there would be a biography. "How did they gather this information?"

"Unfortunately, while studying there, both of his parents passed away. After school, he worked as an accountant for a short while before he turned 18 and his magic aptitude was awakened. Then he passed the entrance test and enrolled in Ailanthus Academy to pursue healing magic."

He studied in the same academy? "Interesting..."

"After studying hard, he graduated Ailanthus with excellent results and was immediately scouted by the Tower, but to the surprise of everyone, he refused their offer and opened a small clinic right near the slums." Alan took a deep breath and finally closed the notebook.

"There you have it; hope you are satisfied." He put the notebook back somewhere under the table and looked at Cyril in expectation.

"This is enough, thank you." Thinking this was worth it, Cyril took out 4 gold coins from his pocket and put them on the table

The leader took the coins with glee and started looking all over them under the light from the fireplace.

"Pleasure doing business with you! If there is anything you need, you know where to find us, young master." He no longer paid Cyril any attention and returned to a game of cards.

Finished with his business here Cyril got up and left the building where Morpho rejoined their party.

There is still some time left... "Lets relax a bit then and think about what we've heard just now" It wasn't a bad idea

He came back to the shopping district without issue, found a cafe where he ordered tea, and they sat down to think.

Cyril also asked for a tray with sugar water, to which the waiters obliged.

So Alvin is from the same academy; this gives me a bad feeling. "Yeah, let's think about our first visit to him." Rhamn pushed back her non-existent glasses.

"Back then he didn't find out anything using magic but said he'll try to find out information from some of the people he knows." Morpho landed on the edge of the tray.

And on our last visit, he looked as if he knew something; that means someone must have told him relevant information. He took a sip of the tea.

"The most likely connection between us is the academy itself, so someone there must know what is happening to you."

But I am not sure who. Miss Bessie works there as a healer; that is one obvious candidate. She knew me from childhood.

"Well, there is another one. Someone who knew you your whole life." Figuring out what she means, Cyril furrowed his brows.

I suppose that's true. My father was the one who first brought Ailanthus to my attention; the fastest way to find out the truth would be to question him... There will be opportunities in the future; let's take it slow. He decided not to think about it for now.

They sat in the cafe for a bit, enjoying their time.

Owing to this place's proximity to the academy, it was a popular street for the students to relax, and Cyril could see many people wearing his uniform, even someone he knows.

He noticed someone resembling Cedric in the crowd; he was in a hurry to follow someone and didn't look too happy.

When Cyril looked at what he seemed to be pursuing, it turned out to be Leo.

What is happening here? "It must be something exciting; Leo decided to do something after all! Let's follow them." Rhamn's eyes sparkled with anticipation.

Since he didn't have anything better to do at the moment, he decided to accept her request; thankfully, he already paid for his and Morpho's drinks.

Going after them unnoticed wasn't too difficult, they didn't pay attention to anyone other than each other "They are so passionate"

But why is Cedric so worked up? He felt there was something wrong here

Cyril still kept in mind the fact that the Arken family was keeping contact with criminals and prepared for trouble.

Eventually they turned towards an abandoned alley where they started talking.

Not wanting to get caught by them, Cyril stopped before the turn and leaned on the grey stone wall.

He wanted to rely on his enhanced hearing to figure out what's happening.

The first thing that caught his ears was the heated voice of Cedric.

"I never expected you to go this low, Leo. Where did you take Anna?" Cyril had never heard him this angry before.

Next came a mocking laughter: "As long as you do what I told, you'll get to see her safe and sound." Leo clearly enjoyed what's happening.

"You kidnapped a person just to make me drop out of school? Are you insane!?" He screamed in shock.

"How despicable!" Not needing to hide, Rhamn exclaimed with interest.

From what Cyril heard, at this moment Cedric tried to move closer.

"Stay where you are, bastard." There was an immediate reaction. "Unless you want to say goodbye to your dear friend." Leo warned him in a panic, "I've said what I wanted; do you accept?"

Cedric clenched his teeth and stayed silent, contemplating what to do.

There was more laughter. "Not so tough now, are you? It's time you learned your place in society!"

The more he listened to it, the more annoyed Cyril became; it was akin to a mosquito buzzing right by his ear.

"Don't be like that; even mosquitoes will be better than this guy." Rhamn turned to Cyril with shining eyes. "If you want to interfere, just go for it—it will be satisfying."

Like Rhamn said, hearing how despicable and cowardly Leo is being, he had an impulse to do something.

Only he felt interfering now would only make the situation worse; he had no way of helping find Cedric's lost friend.

"Yeah, that's an issue, isn't it?" Rhamn started losing her spirits, when suddenly she stood straight as if listening to something

In the meantime, Cedric continued questioning Leo in a desperate voice.

Rhamn's face turned to surprise. "Incredible! I was thinking about how to find a person, and our Morpho here suddenly told me she has a special ability that can help!"

That was indeed surprising. What kind of ability?

"She has a strong sense of smell, magical even. She can pick up lingering mana from an item; if we give something Cedric's friend had to Morpho, she can definitely find her!" Her voice was filled with pride.

In that case... Now he also felt a desire to try out this ability.

Coincidentally at this moment Cedric and Leo finished talking and were now on their way to get out of the alley

It seemed like Cedric agreed to the deal or at least pretended to.

Perhaps influenced by Rhamn's feelings, once Leo came closer, Morpho flew out and started harassing him.

"A butterfly?" As a result, he slapped her away. "Why do you bugs always like to annoy me?" He said with ridicule towards Cedric.

"This guy has a death wish!" Rhamn was mad.

And so was Cyril when he stepped out of the corner, startling them both.

"Cyril! What are you doing here?" Leo asked him in surprise. "I have no quarrel with you; just pretend you didn't hear anything!" He became nervous.

Cedric was silent by the side; he only shook his head, probably signaling there was no need to help.

Cyril didn't heed that cue."Murder him!"

He coldly looked at Leo. "You are pathetic."

Upon hearing these words, Leo's face became red, but before he could respond, Cyril moved.

He hit him hard in the face, then grabbed Leo's hand to keep him in place.

Leo let out a scream of pain and looked at Cyril in shock, not believing what happened.

"You...!" Before he could continue, Cyril, with a calm and unhurried manner, applied force to the arm he was grabbing, twisting it in the direction it's not supposed to move. "Yes!"

An even higher-pitched scream erupted from Leo as he now dropped to the ground, rolling in pain.

"How can you be so arrogant and yet so weak? You should get stronger if you don't want this to happen again." After saying what he wanted to say, he kicked Leo in the head, this time knocking him out.

"He should be grateful that Morpho is fine; otherwise, this wouldn't have ended so simply." The butterfly flew around them, looking perfectly healthy.

Cedric stood nearby wearing a conflicted expression; it looked like he wanted to interfere but stopped midway.

"You shouldn't have done that... No, it's my fault. I was supposed to stop you, but I hesitated." His voice was solemn. "Thank you for your help; I'll deal with the rest somehow."

He crouched in front of the body, trying to search for some clue. "He is quite sensible."

"I might be able to find your friend." Cyril's words grabbed Cedric's attention once again.

He leaped back to his feet and exclaimed with hope, "Really!? Please, I'll be in your debt!"

"I need an item that belonged to Anna, preferably something she carried with her often." Cyril crossed his arms.

Immediately Cedric almost shouted with anticipation, "I have it! Here..." He pulled out a torn piece of fabric and gave it to Cyril. "Leo gave this to me as proof he knows where she is; it's from her favorite sweater."

Cyril held the item in his palm, letting Morpho land on it and feel it out.

After a second, the butterfly with completely red wings flew up and motioned to follow after her.

"Let's go; she will lead us." It was good to see it work; Cyril wasn't sure what to do if it failed.

"Not our problem anyways."

"The butterfly will? Alright then." Cedric didn't expect this method.

Cyril started walking to get out of this place already but noticed the distinct lack of footsteps behind him.

He turned back only to discover Cedric standing before the collapsed Leo with a conflicted expression.

"What's the matter? You don't want to rescue your friend anymore?" He could guess why Cedric stopped but still hoped he was wrong.

"I know he is a jerk and all that, but we can't leave him like this." It was as expected.

"What a good guy he is." Cyril had to agree with Rhamn's sarcastic remark.